Another beloved Tolkien character makes an appearance in this installment.

A New Arrival -- Part II

At that moment, a mounted party of at least ten well-armed elves could be seen winding their way down the descending stairs of the south slope towards the main path into Imladris, among them a young elf of about 23 years with bright, flaming red hair! "Look!" said Elrond to Lindariel, who was already feeling much better and had nearly forgotten about her vision, "Here come our guests!"

Once they were clear of the last of the wide terraced steps, the approaching party quickened its pace, the horses clearly anxious to reach the comfortable stables of Imladris for food and rest after their long journey. The party was led by a golden-haired, bright-faced elf, who still seemed fresh and invigorated from the last push of their travels, and his blue eyes flashed as he greeted Elladan and Elrohir joyfully when they rushed to meet him. "Legolas! Mae govannen!" cried Elladan. "How comes this happy meeting? We had understood that Vanagar would be escorting his sister back to Imladris."

The Prince of Mirkwood embraced his friends warmly and responded, "I begged leave to be allowed the opportunity to lead the escort myself, as there are private messages to be delivered to Lord Elrond from my Father. But, more importantly, it has been too long since my last journey to this haven of song and poetry, and far too long since I have seen you, my best friends! Besides, Vanagar and Avarahaiel are not on the best terms right now -- and before you frown at her, it is not of her doing! Vanagar has been insufferable to almost everyone lately. Would you believe he's fallen in love? It isn't suiting him particularly well, because his lady seems to prefer another right now, and he's taking it out mostly on Avarahaiel! I don't blame her for wanting to cut her visit home short by a few years."

"Well, you have come at an auspicious time, as usual, my friend," laughed Elrohir. "We have many interesting guests staying with us for the next several days -- a party of dwarves led by Thorin Oakenshield, no less." He turned and waved Bilbo forward with great enthusiasm, saying, "And with them is our good friend Master Bilbo Baggins, a Halfling of the Shire. Master Baggins, allow me to introduce Legolas Greenleaf, son of King Thranduil of Mirkwood."

"Mae govannen, Master Baggins, a star shines on our meeting!" cried Legolas in surprise. "I have heard of the Shire-folk, but you are the first halfling I have ever met. Well, I can see this will be an interesting visit!"

"At your service, Your Highness, I am honored," said Master Baggins. "Did I understand correctly that you and your folk are from Mirkwood?"

"Yes, indeed, Master Baggins," Legolas replied, "Though it will be quite some time before we return to the great forest. After a short visit here in Imladris, I am charged to take these young warriors with me for some training among the Dunedain. We will not be returning to Mirkwood for several years."

"Ah," said Master Baggins, "that is a shame, for my party is traveling to Erebor, and it would be nice to have extra companions with us who are familiar with the great forest. Alas! Well, we shall have to enjoy each other's company while we can, eh?"

"Of course, Master Baggins! I shall be delighted!" exclaimed Legolas, as he motioned for the young red-haired elf to come forward. "Allow me to present Avarahaiel, daughter of Vanaalcar of Mirkwood, a trusted advisor in my Father's court. Avarahaiel is also Lord Elrond's foster daughter, and she is returning to Imladris to complete her training as a warrior. Avarahaiel, this is Master Bilbo Baggins of the Shire."

"Mae govannen, Master Baggins, I am pleased to meet you," said Avarahaiel a bit shyly. "The pleasure is mine, young lady," said Bilbo. "Ah! Here comes Lord Elrond with my two young friends who are also most eager to see you."

Avarahaiel turned eagerly to greet her foster father, but stopped short and stared when she saw Lindariel. "Your hair!" she blurted, forgetting her manners entirely at the sight of Lindariel's dark russet locks. "Your hair! It's red, like mine!" Lindariel ran forward and the two red-haired maidens locked hands and stared at each other for a long moment and then simultaneously reached out to touch each other's hair as if to make sure it was real!

"I thought I was the only red-haired elf in Arda!" exclaimed Avarahaiel. "So did I!" replied Lindariel, and the two suddenly embraced like long-separated sisters, as Lord Elrond laughed and placed his arms around them. "Avarahaiel, this is Lindariel, and she is from Mirkwood, too! She came here shortly after you left, and she is apprenticed in the Hall of Fire."

"You should hear her sing, Avara!" said Estel excitedly. "Or maybe I should say, you should see her sing; sometimes magic things happen when she sings! I'm so glad you're back! Elladan says I might be big enough to start training with you!"

Avarahaiel laughed, a bit overwhelmed by all the excitement and new people after her long journey. "Mae govannen, Estel! My, you have grown quite a bit!" and she gave her young friend an enthusiastic hug and whispered in his ear, "I'm so glad to be back!"

Legolas smiled at Lindariel and asked her, "Do you remember me, Lindariel?" She nodded shyly and looked at her toes as she murmured, "You're the King's son, Prince Legolas." He grinned, "That's right. I'm glad to see that you're so happy here in Imladris. King Thranduil asked me to inquire especially after your welfare, and Lachlindor has sent a small gift for you." He reached into one of his saddle bags and produced a small silver flute. "He thought you might like to have this for your classes with Mistress Glorfiniel. I'm told it has an especially fine tone. Will you try it for us?"

Lindariel looked for just a brief moment at Lord Elrond, who smiled and nodded encouragingly, and then she eagerly accepted the lovely flute, caressing its smooth burnished surface for just a moment before lifting it to her lips. Soon a clear, sweet, lilting melody filled the courtyard, charming every listener, as the attendants who were helping to unload the horses paused to gather with the newly arrived party and enjoy the music. At one point, Master Baggins tapped Elladan and Prince Legolas each on the shoulder and pointed towards a nearby flower bed.

The buds on the climbing rose bushes that covered the trellis were visibly opening to full flower!

Lindariel

“Therefore I say: Eä! Let these things Be! And I will send forth into the Void the Flame Imperishable, and it shall be at the heart of the World, and the World shall Be.”

Hee! Yes, Iolanthe, I have liberated Legolas from Mirkwood! There are two schools of thought on Legolas. One is that he is roughly 2000-2500 years old (this is apparently the reasoning PJ & Co. have used and the one I have adopted as well). The other is that he could only be 300-500 years max, if not just beyond his majority (50) -- based on the fact that he seems to have so little knowledge of the outside world. However, I tend to discount this line of reasoning because the times in which Legolas expresses or seems to indicate a lack of knowledge about the lands/peoples are areas that had been principally inhabited by MEN -- primarily Rohan, Gondor, and the now uninhabited lands of Eriador that had once been the principal dwelling places of the Northern Dunedain. In all of these areas, he would bow to Aragorn's superior knowledge because these are places in which the Man had traveled and served extensively.

One would not expect an elf of Mirkwood to be at all familiar with Moria, but in Lothlorien, Legolas leaves the Fellowship for long periods of time to visit with his Galadhrim "kin," an indication that he has indeed been there before. He also knows the song of Nimrodel.

For my purposes, the realms of Imladris and Mirkwood have a cordial, if somewhat distant, relationship, and the sons of both houses have spent some time in all four elven realms (Imladris, Lothlorien, Mirkwood, and Mithlond) for fosterage and training. My Legolas is 200-300 years younger than Elladan, Elrohir, and Arwen, but after nearly three millenia interacting and training with each other, they are more or less contemporaries.

Where Thranduil is more insular and suspicious (and very much under physical and mental siege -- the King is after all trying to maintain his home and lands practically under the nose of Dol Guldur and without the power and assistance of a Great Ring), Legolas is much more a creature of the world, more curious and outward looking. I think this fits with the Professor's depiction of both characters, and hope you all approve!

(By the way, I hope you did notice that I deftly set things up such that Legolas is NOT present in Thranduil's court when Thorin & Co. arrive. He is in charge of a troop of relatively new Mirkwood warriors and taking them for a few years of training with the Northern Dunedain. In my universe, Legolas is not present at the Battle of Five Armies.)

Last edited by Lindariel on Fri Apr 10, 2009 10:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Lindariel

“Therefore I say: Eä! Let these things Be! And I will send forth into the Void the Flame Imperishable, and it shall be at the heart of the World, and the World shall Be.”

Well, here is the final installment of little Lindariel's story so far. I hope you all have enjoyed what I've written so far. Now, I have to figure out how I want to proceed.

As I mentioned before, I have written the adult Lindariel into a Group Story that grew like Topsy over at the former WRoR site. In the process of writing her into that adventure, I made "discoveries" about Lindariel, Elladan, Elrohir, Legolas, and Aragorn that are pretty much inextricably linked to that story. However, since I only wrote portions of it, and many of the other originally created characters don't "belong" to me, I'm at a loss as to how to proceed from here.

I'll need to decide whether I want to try to create a different adventure for adult Lindariel that will result in bringing these characters to more or less the same place so that it fits with the rest of the "life" I have constructed for her, or whether I need to completely reimagine her life. Either way, it will take quite a bit of thought and a LOT of writing!

Enjoy this last little glimpse into little Lindariel's life, and hopefully I'll be back with more at another time! Meanwhile, your thoughts, critiques, etc. are most welcome!

**********

New Challenges

For the first time in seven years, Lindariel could not wait for her morning lessons with Mistress Glorfiniel to be over. The class at last wended its way through the end of the Lay of Eärendil with Lindariel impulsively improvising an extra obligato line to the final refrain she had previously only shared with Estel.

"Well," said Mistress Glorfiniel, "that's coming along nicely indeed! Altos, I believe we lost focus on stanza 36! The harmony is supposed to modulate into the minor key for that crucial verse about Elwing's plunge into the sea, and the sorrow of the survivors of the Kinslaying at Sirion who believe that she has died. Some of you weren't paying attention and sang the same harmonies as stanza 35. I realize this is a very long song, but we must never, never lose focus; otherwise, we will be giving our audience the impression that we are happy about Elwing's plight! And that just won't do! The final refrain was particularly fine today. Lindariel, what inspired you to provide that beautiful descant?"

The entire class turned to Lindariel, with Dorion rolling his eyes just a bit, as she blushed and replied, "I'm not really sure Mistress Glorfiniel, but it just seemed to me that, since we are singing about Eärendil's ship rising into the sky with the Silmaril bound to its prow and becoming a star, then the top vocal line should float to the heavens as well."

Mistress Glorfiniel beamed with pleasure and replied, "That is certainly a lovely example of text painting, and I believe you should add your descant to our score for tonight's concert. Would you take a few moments after class to make that notation, Lindariel? Excellent! Class, we are dismissed for the morning. Please reassemble after the dinner hour, dressed in your choral robes, to prepare for the concert. Thank you!"

Dorion mumbled, "Show off!" in Lindariel's direction as he left, but she just lifted an eyebrow and shrugged her shoulders at him, as she approached the conductor's stand and accepted the ink stand and quill from Mistress Glorfiniel. Although Elrohir's arrangement with the servants two years ago had certainly curtailed Dorion's more aggressive bullying, he had continued to get in his little heartless digs about her deceased parents from time to time until Lindariel had done the unexpected -- saved the hapless fool from his own stupidity.

Lindariel smiled as she remembered the incident. Several months after Elrohir's intervention, Dorion had spied Lindariel perched upon the low railing of the little causeway connecting the garden path to a lovely trail into the woods on the other side of the largest lake in Rivendell. She was completely absorbed in reading a book, and although he knew it would probably earn him some sort of indignity at the hands of the servants, the idea of pushing Lindariel into the lake was too irresistible to pass up. But he knew he would have to run up and do it quickly, otherwise she'd spy him too soon and jump down from the railing.

He had carefully circled around to approach the bridge from her blind side, so that she would not be aware of his presence until his feet hit the wooden planks of the bridge. All was going according to plan, except that he had not expected to trip on an uneven board at the last moment. So, instead of shoving Lindariel into the water, he missed her by about a foot and sailed head first into the lake himself!

Lindariel had immediately figured out what the bully had intended to do and was about to leave in a disgusted huff, when she realized that the foolish young courtier was desperately floundering about in the deep water, apparently unable to swim. There was no one at hand and nothing long enough to reach him, so she laid aside her book, kicked off her shoes, whispered her thanks that Estel had taken the trouble to teach her to swim shortly after they met, and jumped in the water just behind Dorion. Grasping him by the back of his lacy collar, she managed to make him understand that he needed to stop struggling so that she could tow him to shore.

Dorion had never thanked her for coming to his aid. Indeed, once he had caught his breath, he had stomped off indignantly, humiliated at having been saved by his intended victim. But when he realized later that day that she had never mentioned the incident to anyone, he found that he no longer had the stomach to torment her anymore, and limited his snide comments thereafter to those more typical of a jealous classmate.

Mistress Glorfiniel interrupted Lindariel's reverie by commenting, "I have some interesting news for you, Lindariel. As you know, a number of guests from King Thranduil's court arrived yesterday for the beginning of the Autumn Festival. Among them is Dorion's sister, Lady Finuriel. I have it on very good authority that she intends to take her brother home with her after the Festival is over. It seems that their family is displeased with Dorion's inability to make any progress here in the Hall of Fire, and he will be going home to discuss his future with his father." The instructor smiled, "I imagine things will become a great deal more comfortable in our class after he departs."

Lindariel smiled and hugged her teacher before turning to quickly finish her descant notation at the end of the score arrangement for the Lay of Eärendil. Together, the two elves sang the final stanza once more to check Lindariel's notation, with Mistress Glorfiniel taking the usual soprano line, and Lindariel floating her new descant on top. "Excellent, my dear!" sighed the teacher, "I'm certain our guests will be charmed! You are dismissed until call for the concert. I"ll see you then!"

Lindariel managed to contain her excitement and walk calmly out of the Hall of Fire. But once her feet hit the garden path, she ran full-tilt all the way home to change into her training gear and braid back her hair. Today, she was to take up sword work and archery with Master Elladan!

**********

At the training ground, Elladan and Elrohir watched with amusement as Estel paced about impatiently waiting for Lindariel to be released from her morning classes. Over the past two years, the boy had made remarkable progress with his tumbling, sword work, archery, and horsemanship. He was growing like a weed, which kept both Gilraen and Mírwen in a continuous tizzy trying to keep him fed and properly clothed. Lately his voice had begun to drop precipitously, and this very human development had become a subject of general hilarity among the young elven warriors in the training program, as male elvish voices changed very slowly and gradually, without the sudden squeaks and squawks so characteristic of human adolescent boys. The Peredhel had been very gratified to see the young Dunedain take the mostly good-natured ribbing in stride, and they were further pleased to see that Estel's devotion to his little friend Lindariel remained absolutely steadfast, despite the growing disparity in size between the two.

For it was becoming increasingly clear that Lindariel was going to remain unusually small for an elf, and Estel was going to be unusually tall for a man. Lindariel had grown slowly but steadily since arriving at Imladris, but at twelve years old, most people still mistook her for an elfling half her age. Estel, on the other hand, was already several heads taller than Lindariel, and looked to be several years older than twelve. Seeing the two of them together, one came away with the decided impression that Lindariel must be Estel's much younger sister, when in fact they were the same age!

Lindariel had been a devoted observer of Estel's training sessions, rushing in every day from her morning classes to perch on the fence and cheer him on. After a few months of watching her barely contain her desire to leap down and take part, Elladan had at last prevailed upon his brother to permit Lindariel to join in the tumbling and horsemanship exercises, and they had been very pleasantly surprised by her natural facility with both. Soon, she was every bit as good as Estel and the other young elven warriors at tumbling and excelled all but Estel at riding, for the boy was without question a born rider and horseman very much like Elrohir himself, and soon had a horse of his own sent by the Dunedain.

But, Elrohir had also been particularly impressed with Lindariel's manner with horses and her instincts for melding the posture and rhythm of her body to the animal's gait. The young stallion Roedhel from Elrohir's personal stables had taken a particular liking to Lindariel, and before long it became clear that this was to be a life-long friendship. In keeping with his philosophy about horses -- that the noble animals chose their riders, rather than the other way around -- Elrohir had gallantly released Roedhel into Lindariel's care for her twelfth birthday, much to her great surprise and delight, and she had faithfully kept to her agreement to visit him at least twice daily in the stables or fields to see personally to his needs.

However, the Peredhel had both drawn the line at having her take up the sword or the bow because her little arms were simply too short for even the smallest practice weapons. But as time passed, and she showed no signs of becoming appreciably larger any time soon, Elladan had at last asked the weapons master to fashion a practice sword and bow especially sized to suit Lindariel, with the intention of undertaking her training himself. Elrohir had suggested that Estel join them, so that Lindariel would have the companionship of a friend her age, if not her size. It would help her to feel less conspicuous on the training ground, and the boy would benefit from more time with his friend and extra attention from Elladan.

She was a little later than usual arriving that morning, although Elladan suspected she would be given the important concert that would be taking place that evening, and he smiled broadly as she came careening around the corner of the stables, an unusually tiny warrior dressed in leather-reinforced tunic and trousers and strong boots, with a new pair of stiff leather greaves over her wrists and forearms, and her bright hair caught back in a long, intricate braid. She was at one and the same time funny, heart-breaking, and breathtaking.

"Lindariel!" Estel's voice simultaneously squeaked and boomed, causing Elrohir to laugh so hard he fell off the fence. The tall boy blushed wildly, but also began laughing himself, as he ran to embrace his friend.

"She said it was a lovely example of text painting and asked me to add it to the score for the concert tonight!" Lindariel squealed with delight, as Estel lifted her in his arms and swung her about triumphantly.

"Aha! You see! I TOLD you she would like it!" he cried, completely ignoring the wildly oscillating tones of his voice. "Elladan! Elrohir! Lindariel is to have a special part in the concert tonight!"

"It's just a little descant line for the end of the Lay of Eärendil," Lindariel blushed modestly.

"Yes, but she wrote it herself! It was her musical idea, and Mistress Glorfiniel liked it so much, she had Lindariel add it to the score!" Estel enthused.

"But that's marvelous, Lindariel," said Elladan. "I can always pick out your voice in the chorus, but it will be wonderful to hear it float up above the rest of the sopranos. Are you sure you want to start training today, since you have such an important concert tonight?"

"Yes, indeed," Lindariel smiled, "I'll have plenty of time to rest before dinner!"

Even though Lindariel had been watching Estel's archery practice for well over a year, Elladan still gave her a thorough introduction to the nature of the weapon, drilling her carefully in proper stance, posture, and technique, while Elrohir quietly directed Estel through a series of target drills. Once Elladan was satisfied that Lindariel had achieved an appropriate technique with the empty bow, he brought out a special quiver of shortened arrows for her to begin sighting on the near targets. She rapidly developed an excellent aim, and soon began consistently hitting the interior rings of the near target. Elladan watched her carefully and called a halt to the target drill when he began to see the early signs of muscle fatigue in her shoulders.

"Well done!" Elladan exclaimed, as Elrohir approached to congratulate their newest student as well. "You're right, brother," he called, "She's a natural. I suspect the same skills you employ to remain calm and control your nerves for performances also help to steady your aim, Lindariel. Excellent! We'll set aside a practice area for you to use every day to build up your stamina and distance. Once you feel confident in your basic skills, we'll move on to firing from different positions, as well as moving targets. Let's have some water now, and stretch out your muscles for some sword play!"

Lindariel scampered happily to join Estel at the fountain, where the boy was casually pouring his first cup of water over his head to cool down from the last of several challenging speed drills. He handed Lindariel a cup of water with a grin that dared her to follow suit, and then laughed uproariously as she up-ended the water over her already damp locks.

"You're doing really well," he whispered. "Are you ready for our surprise?" She nodded eagerly. "Well then, drink up, and let's get those stretching exercises out of the way."

They were soon sufficiently rested and warmed up for sword practice. Again, Elladan carefully covered the basics with Lindariel, demonstrating proper grip, footwork, and the basic defensive positions, and then guiding her slowly through a practice sequence to help her learn how to move smoothly from one position to the next. After Lindariel had walked successfully through the practice sequence several times, Elladan motioned for Estel to take up his position as her sparring partner for the same exercise.

They began by moving slowly, step-by-step through the exercise, with gentle reminders from Elladan about proper grip and footwork. But on the second pass, the two friends rapidly began to pick up the pace of the exercise, until, to the Peredhel's amazement, the two children were working continuously through the exercise at full speed, with Lindariel meeting and blocking every one of Estel's attacks.

After the third repetition, Elladan called the exercise to a halt, and the twins came forward to gaze at the children's smiling faces. "You've been practicing with her secretly, haven't you Estel?" asked Elrohir, rather sternly.

A bit of the mirth fell from Estel's face, as he responded, "Yes, we have. Lindariel was so anxious to learn, so we started with blunt sticks wrapped in cloth, so we couldn't possibly hurt each other. We worked very slowly, just like you taught me in class, and only on this basic exercise -- both defensive and offensive positions. And she learned SO quickly, Elrohir! I couldn't believe it! But there's something else you should see . . ."

Elrohir was about to scold the lad, when this last comment caught his attention. "What do you mean, there's something else we should see?"

Estel swallowed and replied, "Well, Lindariel can do something I can't. At least I can't right now, although I really want to see if I can learn it. She . . . she can swap hands!"

Elladan blurted, "She can WHAT?"

Estel replied urgently, "She can fight with the sword in either hand, and she can change hands in the middle of the exercise without breaking her rhythm or her concentration. It happens when her eyes start swirling. I think it was about to happen when you stopped us."

Elladan looked from the boy to Lindariel to his brother and said softly, "I think we need for Father and maybe Master Amarthalion to see this. I'll go get them. Lindariel, why don't you and Estel have some water while you're waiting."

As the children walked over to the fountain, Elladan whispered quietly to Elrohir, "Unless I miss my guess, she's tapping into a Far Plain battle skill without realizing it. I'll be right back with Father and Master Amarthalion."

**********

Elladan returned within a few minutes with the Chief Bard of Imladris and Master Elrond, who smiled at the nervous children and said, "I understand you have a bit of a surprise in store for us, Lindariel. Will you and Estel give us a demonstration?"

The little elf maid stammered, "We'll try. It doesn't always happen. I mean, I can't make it happen. But sometimes, when we have really fallen into the rhythm of the exercise . . ."

Elrond knelt and gave her a reassuring hug, "It's all right, my dear. Master Amarthalion and I believe you have inadvertently tapped into a new power, and if so, we need to know that so we can help you to master it and gain control over it. Now, just begin your exercise with Estel, and let's see what happens."

Lindariel sighed with relief and nodded in agreement. Then she and Estel took their places on the field and began the basic sword exercise at a moderate tempo. Again, their pace quickened rapidly, and by the third repetition of the pattern, they were once again at full speed. It was during the sixth repetition that the observers noticed Lindariel's eyes beginning to swirl, and in mid-exercise, she smoothly brought her left hand in to join the right ever so briefly as she automatically modified her stance, and then just as smoothly removed her right hand to continue the exercise left-handed.

Of course, the manuever threw Estel's rhythm off slightly, but he adjusted quickly to the change and managed to continue with the exercise through several more repetitions, before Master Elrond called the exercise to a halt. Lindariel's eyes gradually stopped swirling, and she staggered a bit as though dizzy. Estel stepped forward to support her, while Elladan rushed to the fountain for water for both combatants.

Lindariel, I don't know whether to laugh or cry. This is the last episode you have of young Lindariel's story, and it ends on such a tantalizing note!!

Lindariel wrote:I'll need to decide whether I want to try to create a different adventure for adult Lindariel that will result in bringing these characters to more or less the same place so that it fits with the rest of the "life" I have constructed for her, or whether I need to completely reimagine her life. Either way, it will take quite a bit of thought and a LOT of writing!

And - you do realise your dilemma is not dissimilar to the kind of difficulties the Professor himself must have faced when trying to tie the various bits of his own mythology together?

Whatever you decide - go for it!!

"Torment in the dark was the danger that I feared, and it did not hold me back.
But I would not have come, had I known the danger of light and joy."

I'm so sorry this is the last part, Lindariel. I feel quite bereft, it's been wonderful spending time in Rivendell with Lindariel and young Estel .

I can see your dilemma. But if you've made 'discoveries' about these characters it will be hard to go on unless you're true to them . Once they take on a life of their own there's no getting away from it! I can see the fact that they are now entangled in a joint story makes it difficult .

But the Muse will find a way, I'm sure!

Now let the song begin! Let us sing together
Of sun, stars, moon and mist, rain and cloudy weather...

Thanks so much for the encouragement ladies! I think for now I might try to continue writing about little Lindariel and this latest development with her training on the practice field, while I figure out how to resolve my dilemma. marbretherese, you are far, far TOO kind to compare my problem with The Professor's! In addition to raveling, unraveling, and reweaving his extraordinarily complex plots, he also had to completely create the world of Middle-earth. All I have to do is set down my story within the world he has already so richly defined.

However, I do think it would probably take the rest of my life to write ALL of Lindariel's tale as I have plotted it, especially given that I spent the better part of TWO YEARS working on little Lindariel and the Group Story. At times, it felt like the Group Story had taken over my life! But it was so much FUN to write and collaborate with others, enjoying their own rich ideas and weaving their characters into Lindariel's life. I do feel more than a bit bereft at the idea of excising that adventure and reimagining another. After all, it was the Group Story that gave me the inspiration for how to resolve Elrohir's psychological problems; unfortunately, that involved the participation of someone else's MARVELOUS characters.

This person is still a member over at the new (and much smaller) WRoR site and would be a real asset to our forums; he's especially interested in Tolkien's Dwarves and is particularly knowledgeable about the Ages prior to the First Age (the Age of the Trees, etc.). Maybe I could intice him to join us here and work with me to recreate that adventure? (Merry, I think you know the Dwarf to whom I'm referring; do you think he'd find a home here?) It would give us an opportunity to reimagine this adventure without a third author's insistence upon an interpretation of Thranduil that I privately felt ran counter to The Professor's characterization of the Mirkwood monarch. I'll have to think about it.

Lindariel

“Therefore I say: Eä! Let these things Be! And I will send forth into the Void the Flame Imperishable, and it shall be at the heart of the World, and the World shall Be.”

Any new member injecting more creative life here - and joining in in the other forums - would be an asset. And I'd be more than happy to talk about the Age of the Trees with him. I seem to have been inhabiting there in my reading for quite a while now .

Your story sounds like a truly vast epic, Lindariel!

Now let the song begin! Let us sing together
Of sun, stars, moon and mist, rain and cloudy weather...

Yes, please encourage your friend to join us, Lindariel! it sounds as though he would be able to make a valuable contribution. As for your own dilemma, perhaps it's not so much a problem of sub-creation as of sub-sub-creation . . . .

"Torment in the dark was the danger that I feared, and it did not hold me back.
But I would not have come, had I known the danger of light and joy."

I must say that I am also disappointed to discover that this is the last of the Lindariel stories available ~~ how goes the situation, my dear author?

The tale is absolutely wonderful. I love that you are being true to the Professor's world.

Estel's character surprises me, though. I've always thought of him as being a serious type of person ~~ maybe that only sets in after his mother's death, and his real battle excursions with the sons of Elrond

In reference to your pm response, I am quite fascinated by the life of Elrond; his biography would be quite a read! The loss of his brother is the key to his character, I think, and is behind 'the bitter parting' between Elrond and Arwen. The reaction of his sons to their mother's torment may explain their staying behind in Middle Earth.

Thank you for sharing your stories. I can't believe they have been laying here for 5 years & I have taken so long to discover them.

If I may ask permission, may I print them out so that I can re-read them? All credit will be left with you, of course.

Thank you so much for your kind comments, Serinde! You are welcome to print out my stories to have on hand for a re-read. I'm still up in the air about how to proceed with more about Lindariel. I really wish I could share the HUNDREDS of pages that were written for the Group Story Quest at Writers of Rohan, in which grown-up Lindariel (a secretly MARRIED Lindariel -- No, not to Aragorn; they remain life-long friends, that's all; and No, not to Legolas either; again, just friends) played a major role. However, as the title implies, that was the work of a group of writers, although my Dwarf friend Aiki and I pretty much took the thing over and ran with it, since we were far more prolific and had a long-term vision for the tale.

I really love what developed during the course of the Group Story in terms of advancing Lindariel's future and beginning to put her on the path for her personal Quest. However, it is very much bound up with a number of original characters created by other writers, primarily my buddy Aiki. One down side to the Group Story is that one writer insisted upon an interpretation of Thranduil that I find problematic. In order to proceed, I would need to reimagine a vast and important portion of her life, and I don't know if I have the energy or will to do so.

However, writing this Yule Journey, which wound up touching upon her tangentially there at the end, has certainly stirred up the writing bug again. I may see if I can pick up where I left off with little Lindariel, quietly write-out the problematic Avarahaiel, and proceed.

As far as your comments about the young Estel are concerned, I think it is important to remember the great "high" joy that is expressed by the emergent King after the ordeal of the War of the Ring is over. This is a man that has a great deal of love and joy buried in him under all of the grim years of Rangering in obscurity. I firmly believe this could only have come from a relatively happy childhood in Rivendell. Part of my desire to write Lindariel's story comes from my interest in looking at the life of young Estel and following him as he grows through the eyes of a little friend who has her own touch of destiny.

I'm not making any promises -- real life has a way of putting a monkey wrench into my creative writing time on a regular basis -- but I am contemplating a return to little Lindariel. Again, I'm so glad you've enjoyed my work.

Lindariel

“Therefore I say: Eä! Let these things Be! And I will send forth into the Void the Flame Imperishable, and it shall be at the heart of the World, and the World shall Be.”